Upgrade Your Dreams

June 25, 2018

“Make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have been given, and then sink yourself into that…Each of you must take responsibility for doing the creative best you can with your own life.”Galatians 6:4-5 MSG

As we approach the half-way mark of 2018, I challenge you to check in with your dreams…

Are you where you hoped to be six months ago—back when you dreamed of all that was possible in the year ahead?

For those of us living in the Northern Hemisphere, summer is in full bloom, which seems to bring a fresh opportunity to cultivate a new harvest of possibilities.

What are you planting in your field of dreams?

This is the perfect time to take stock of the dream garden you’ve planted and notice whether it’s flourishing—or if it needs some tending to.

Are there signs of your dreams beginning to sprout, or have they been choked out by the weeds of distraction—smothered under daily obligations—overtaken by thorns of “busy-ness”?

Perhaps those dreams you planted at the start of the year are simply in need of some watering.

Be “alert to the condition ofyourlives.”
Hebrews 13:17

Ask God to show you where you’ve let your dreams “turn to seed” and how you can re-till the soil of your success.

Or ask Him to help you increase your capacity to dream bigger—to give you a larger field to cultivate as Jabez did:

“O, if only You would bring good to me and give me more land!”
1 Chronicles 4:10 NLV

Where is your faith holding you back?

How would you dream differently if you fully understood the nature of the Dream Giver?

How would you change what you asked for “if you knew the generosity of God” (John 4:10 MSG)?

“God is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or dream.” Ephesians 3:20

Whatever dreams you feel have withered on the vine, it’s not because they’re too big or out of reach for you!

What once stirred your heart that you have silenced? What have you put on hold?

Whatever you’re currently thinking about doing is probably too small—so as you read this, I challenge you to dream bigger!

God will never tell you to do something you don’t have the potential to do.

For the next 30 days, lay aside just 15 minutes a day to tend to the terrain of your dreams.

Write down your dream for the following seven areas in a notebook—it will be your “Dream Book.”

If you clarify and write down your dreams, God will bring the resources.

By the end of this year, six months from today, write about how you would like the following seven areas to look:

What is your dream for your…

1) Marriage — or your significant relationship in your life? If you’re still looking for that special relationship, write down in detail what you dream of that person being like.

2) Children — or the special young people in your life? Who do you dream of them becoming? And with that in mind, how do you dream of them progressing in the next six months?

3) Health — whether you dream of overcoming a health challenge, or improving your fitness. Write down your dream for how you want to feel six months from now, as well as how you want to look.

4) Legacy — or the lives you want to impact? Whose lives will you have positively influenced six months from now and in what ways?

5) Inheritance — or the material things you plan to bequeath to the people and causes you care about? Begin to dream now about the philanthropic or charitable impact you hope to make.

6) Education — or level of learning. How many books are you reading in a week or in a month? How many are loaded on your phone or device? Are you being strategic with the time and tools at your disposal?

7) Calling — or career? How will you have advanced by the end of this year? If you study your industry for just 30 minutes a day, you will become the go-to expert in your field!

Invest 15 minutes each day writing about your dreams, dreaming about your dreams, and strategizing about your dreams—and then by faith put energy into making those dreams a reality.

Dreamers are world changers and history makers.

It is people with dreams who change the trajectory of humanity.

Learn to cultivate your dreams. Your dreams could be what make all the difference in this world.

If you need to revive your capacity to dream, join me for Kingdom School of MinistryJuly 15-21. It’s the perfect mid-year reboot to get you back on track with God’s big dreams for you…